


Prisoner A Go-Go

by Agent66



Series: War of the Worlds [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Episode: s5e1 Stuck Together, Gen, Introspection, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-07 06:02:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12227193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent66/pseuds/Agent66
Summary: This wasn't what Rose or the Gems had wanted, but it was whathewanted. And now, all of it would be put to the test.





	1. Journey

**Author's Note:**

> Wilkommen, bienvenidos, and hello!
> 
> OMG, can you believe we're this far in and still no show? Equal parts yay and nay - nay, cause...sooooo many things that need 'splaining! Yay, cause I might actually get through the bulk of these before the show returns. Which seems like cause I'm here and you're here and we're here on story number 8! 
> 
> This is the eighth story overall in the [War of the Worlds](http://archiveofourown.org/series/724287) serial and the third story in the arc of the same name. If you're just joining us, you'll need to read the previous two stories - [Gone, Steven, Gone](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12110841) and [A Question and A Message](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12169779) before proceeding as they are connected. Obviously, I would love it if you read the five stories proceeding those. :)
> 
> Also, despite this being a season 5 AU, for this first chapter, I did grab some lines from the episode Stuck Together. Not spoiler-y, but just know you need to be caught up to this episode at least.
> 
> Again, I want to thank everyone who's been riding the G-Train. It does mean a lot that you guys are reading this, loving it, and looking forward to more. This is probably the fastest turn around for fan fics I've ever done, so...enjoy this! LOL
> 
> Enough talking! Let's get the train moving, shall we? All aboard!

This was it. This was what he had wanted and for the first time in a long time, he had gotten what he wanted.

Steven Universe was headed to Homeworld.

In the aftermath of his decision to go with the small blue gem known as Aquamarine and the large yellow fusion of Topaz, Steven was still feeling…pretty good about his choices. Yes, he had probably angered everyone he’d left behind, but they didn’t understand. Rose Quartz had done a horrible thing and it was only right that she face the consequences of those actions.

But since Homeworld was robbed of Rose, it left to Steven do what he could in her stead. And if that meant standing trial for her crimes, then he would. This would stop the fighting and resolve everything.

Unlike his experience in Peridot’s hand ship or the ruby ship, Steven wasn’t able to view the galaxy outside as they left Earth’s atmosphere and began the journey to Homeworld. There was no way the Gems would be able to save him, not this time; this time, Steven was on his own and that’s how he wanted it.

“The Rose Quartz,” Aquamarine gushed, flying around the head of Topaz as she held the war criminal under her arm. “Can you believe it? And she handed _herself_ in!”

“That’s right,” Steven boasted. “You caught me – galactic criminal Rose Quartz. I love shattering Diamonds. I just want to shatter ‘em all the time.”

Aquamarine laughed. “You think _shattering’s_ bad?” she giggled. “Wait till the _Diamonds_ get their hands on you.”

 _At least everyone else is safe_ , the teen thought, his face registering resolution and slight dread.

“I’m sure they’ll make you take off that ridiculous disguise,” the blue gem continued, flittering around the Topaz and her charge, before stopping to look at Steven. “I thought you’d be much taller in person,” she said, disappointed. “This form is completely disgusting.”

“Hey!”

Shrugging, Aquamarine drifted up to her command chair. “I’ll go let the Diamonds know about our little prisoner,” she said. “Say, Rose, how do I look?”

“Awful, small, and mean!” Steven shouted.

Again, the blue gem laughed. “Is that how you flattered so many gems into joining your rebellion?” she asked. “How cute. Topaz, I trust you’ll still be able to fly the ship with pudge pocket in your arms?”

To answer the question, and to stop the teen’s protest struggling, the Topaz holding Steven looked to her carbon copy before they began to fuse, trapping Steven in between their bodies. Topaz then turned to head down towards main engineering, while Aquamarine began to activate the gravity engines.

Steven stopped his struggling, knowing that no matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to get out. While he had been confident and defiant on the bridge, the true weight of what he was doing finally caught up to him. He wanted this, he did, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t scared about it, because he _was_. He turned himself in thinking it would fix everything, but now that he was here, his most pressing thought was, _would it_?

He was being taken to Homeworld, where he would face the Diamonds. He had seen them up close once and even then, he had been trying to hide with his father. If this worked, they would get what they wanted and leave Earth and everyone on it alone, right? The only reason to target Earth was because of the bad memories associated with it, but all he had to do was…well…be destroyed for something he never even did.

He grimaced, feeling tears at the corners of his eyes. This was Rose Quartz’s fault; everything began and ended with her and it seemed no matter what Steven did, he’d always be a reminder of everything she did. On Earth, he was a constant reminder that Rose was gone and so many people loved and missed her, while to Homeworld, he was a constant reminder of nearly destroying a society and murdering one of their leaders.

He couldn’t win on either planet. He knew everyone hated his decision, worse because there was nothing they could do about it; but this had to be done. Someone had to pay for what Rose Quartz did.

It was in his nature to try and talk to Topaz, hope that maybe…but he nixed that idea. Maybe if they were on Earth, but they weren’t. Things would be different and Steven needed to prepared himself.

He was going to Homeworld.

 

* * *

 

Time for gems is relative and really, non-existent to the point where a century could be a blink of an eye to them. Unlike humans, who seemed to rely on various instruments and objects to keep the passage of time for them, gems were content at doing their specific tasks and jobs without interruption.

This was a bit of a problem for one Steven Universe.

Steven was used to being alone in quiet, that wasn’t the problem, however usually when he was, it was only for a few hours at most and even then, the hours when the gems would be gone, Steven would just go down to visit his father or hang out with Onion. As he made his way to Homeworld, stuck in the confines of a fusion, Steven didn’t know how long it had been but he was, quite frankly, bored.

His captor wasn’t much of a conversationalist, so matter how much he tried talking to her. Just hanging out in…well, in someone, was weird and he kinda wanted to discuss it. Worse yet, as he had discovered on the upper level, there were no windows for him to look out and see the galaxy. For some reason, that made him think about the time he and Pearl built a space ship. She had wanted to show him the places she had seen, the stars, the galaxy, to the point where she had been willing to let him die in that cockpit.

Thankfully, he was able to talk her back to the reality and he knew she hadn’t meant to hurt him, but…well, it was just another reminder of something his mother had taken away. Pearl had only been on Earth because of Rose Quartz and Steven was a pale replacement. Come to think of it, the times he had been in space were always connected to something life threatening.

The next time he had seen the blackness of space, he had been floating in a bubble thanks to Eyeball grabbing him out of the airlock of the Diamond’s moon base. After he had healed her cracked gem, she proceeded to try and carve the gem from his body. The last time he had been in space was on the way to Pink Diamond’s human zoo to save his father.

Steven wasn’t sure if he really wanted to see space or not, given his prior experiences. But at least with a view, he had something to do versus the hanging he was currently doing.

It seemed like reaching Homeworld would take forever, but in reality, it was only about an hour or so. Steven took a guess that their quick travel was due to the instrumentation on the ship, the warp engines or what not that made the newer gem ships go much faster than the previous models. Pearl had tried to explain it while on the ruby ship, but to be honest Steven had been so worried about the three of them being poofed or worse because he had been pressing buttons on the console.

The teen was jostled awake, apparently drifting off in to a nap while he had turned to his own thoughts, when he felt something knock him on the back of his head. Shaking his head, he looked to see Topaz looking down at him, her face a blank. “What’s happening?” he asked. “Have we stopped? Are we here?”

Topaz didn’t answer, only turning from her controls to head up to the bridge where Aquamarine was waiting for them both. “Ah,” she replied. “There you are. We’re here. You should be honored, Rosie; _both_ Yellow and Blue Diamond want to have a word with you once you’ve been interrogated.”

“Interrogated?” Steven asked, fearfully.

“What?” Aquamarine asked, rising an eyebrow at him. “Did you think you’d just walk in and do the same thing to them that you did to Pink Diamond? No, no. First, you’ll have to be examined; this –“ she gestured to his body. “Form you’ve chosen will have to go and of course, we must make sure you are who you say you are. No worries, a simple poof and you’ll be back to your old, treacherous ways.”

Steven’s eyes widened. He…was not expecting that. Yes, he thought maybe he’d be punished, but poofed? _Could_ he be poofed? That was the same question he’d asked himself while trapped in his bubble with Eyeball. If he was a gem, then the answer was yes, but he _wasn’t_ a gem, not completely. He was also human and he knew enough about human anatomy that if you forcibly removed an important core organ, that human could die.

His gem was an important core organ to his being and it would’ve been one thing if he was in a hospital, with doctors who could help his human body possibly, hopefully adjust, but did Homeworld have doctors? He didn’t think so, not when the concept seemed so foreign to Peridot when told what Connie’s mother did for a profession.

“Wait,” he said. “You…you can’t poof me. I don’t know if I _can_ poof. That could kill me.”

“Oh, we’ll get to that last part,” the blue gem replied. “Just you wait. Unless you just want to skip the poofing and get to it?”

“I…” the teen wasn’t sure what his answer should be. He just knew that poofing was most likely not an option. “I can’t poof,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know if I can or not, but something is telling me I probably can’t.”

Flying up to float in front of his face, Aquamarine stated, “I personally don’t care if you can poof or not. Frankly, I’d like to see what would happen, but…” The gem flew a bit away from him. “Sadly, it’s not my decision. My Diamond requested that you be interrogated and proven to be Rose Quartz; Yellow Diamond was much more… _lenient_ on what could be done to you.”

The blue gem grinned at the younger hybrid. “Not so confident anymore, are you?” she asked. “Those of us who were around when you went tearing though society…well, it seems you’ve lost some of your luster. No more swagger for little Rosie.” Shaking her head, she made a tsk noise.

“You’ve really let yourself go,” she continued. “I know Yellow will be quite disappointed. I hope for your sake you at least give her something worthwhile to shatter or harvest or whatever it is they plan to do to you. It would be a complete waste of a trip if you just…you know…look like you do now, all sad and pathetic like. This _is_ what you wanted after all.”

Aquamarine snapped her fingers, turning and heading for the doors of the ship, Topaz and Steven following behind her.


	2. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven arrives on Homeworld, gets processed, and realizes some really big things.

Stepping out through the doors of the small ship, Steven wasn’t exactly sure where they were. The room or corridor they entered was bathed in yellow, but there didn’t seem to be anything or anyone else there to greet them. To be honest, Steven half suspected there would be armed guards or something that would be waiting for them, so it was rather jarring to note that no one bothered to show up.

Aquamarine was still talking – something about going ahead and giving her report to Blue Diamond – and she nodded to Topaz, while giving him a nasty little smirk. He didn’t say this much, but he really did hate Aquamarine.

While the little blue gem went off to the left, Topaz was turning to the right and began to head down a similar hallway. “Topaz?” he asked. “Where’re we going?” Though he hoped to get an answer, not getting a response wasn’t too surprising so instead, he went back to observing his surroundings. There really wasn’t much to observe, honestly. The corridor continued, with the same yellow walls, though the further they went, the floor coloring went from being yellow to a color in between blue and green, as though the wall coloring was bleeding into the floor.

Their trip seemed to take forever, as Topaz continued to take him…somewhere. The scenery was always the same, never changing, and Steven was about two seconds from falling back to sleep until something finally changed. While their walk had been silent, with only the sounds of the larger gem’s bootsteps on the floor, but now Steven could hear various other sounds.

Topaz turned a corner, where there was a small warp pad that sat within the hallway. The larger gem was silent as she stepped on the pad and activated it, lifting the two within the warp stream of Homeworld. Steven couldn’t help but look around, noting that the warp space on Homeworld seemed vastly different than what he was used to on Earth.

Firstly, instead of it being dark, it was light – Steven tried remembering the name of the color (cream, maybe?) and it provided a nice backdrop to the new warp color as well. Instead of being a cross between blue and white mixing together, the warp stream here was seemed to be a mix of colors – a splash of blue, a touch of yellow, and a splattering of white.

As with most warp travel, the trip was over before it really began and Steven found himself in another yellow colored room, however the various other sounds could now be made out as footsteps, which Topaz’s own gait blended in as she left the warp pad and headed down the hallway. As they got closer to wherever they were headed, Steven was able to see an influx of gems, moving about their daily lives.

A group of rubies and amethysts walked by, seemingly joking about something, while a few peridots gave them a dirty look when they passed. The final destination for the two was a tall gem who stood in front of a large screen. She was dark gold in color, with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and was dressed rather smartly in a lighter yellow suit that brought out the coloring of her skin.

Turning towards the arrival of the duo, Steven was struck by the way her yellow eyes narrowed upon seeing him, as her lips curled into a sneer. “Ah, Topaz,” she replied, her clipped and authoritative. “Our Diamond mentioned you would be stopping by. Is this her?” Topaz nodded. “The infamous Rose Quartz,” she murmured, looking at Steven. “Hmm, I expected you to be taller. None the less – you can call me Beryl and I am the overseer for this facility. Our glorious leader, Yellow Diamond, has made a decree that you are to be questioned in order to verify your statement.

“First things first, you will need to drop this…horrible disguise before we proceed.”

“It’s…it’s not a disguise,” Steven stammered. “This is my…form? This is my form, I can’t change it.”

The beryl’s eyes narrowed further with the comment. “You will refrain from speaking unless spoken to, traitor,” she growled. “And you will shift back into your original form, either voluntarily or by force. I assure you, we _want_ you to choose the latter.”

Steven gulped. This…was not at all what he thought would happen. Would they really do something to force him to poof? Aquamarine pretty much stated that’s what they would do and there didn’t seem to be any warm feelings for Rose Quartz. After that, Steven did as he was told and kept his mouth shut as Beryl went through some information on her screen, before turning and leading Topaz down another hall – what was it with Homeworld and halls? – though this hall was filled with cells, similar to what Steven had woken up in when on Peridot’s hand ship.

Beryl stopped in front of what seemed to be a wall, however, after typing in something on a digital screen pad, the wall revealed itself to be a door, which the group walked into. Topaz split into her two halves, dropping Steven to the hard floor below; he landed hard on his arm, hitting both his shoulder and elbow when he did.

Rolling over on his back, he saw both Topaz and Beryl standing over him. “You are to remain here until further notice,” the latter gem replied. “If you try to escape, you will be shattered. I suggest you spend this time shifting into your true form because if I return and I see… _this_ …I will _not_ be happy.”

The two then turned and walked out, closing the hidden door behind them. And Steven was left alone.

Rubbing his upper arm, Steven looked around his new imprisonment – like the corridors he walked down, the room was devoid of anything except a mix of color – blue, with pink highlights and a neon ban that went around the center of the walls. His dark brown eyes couldn’t help but focus on the pink ban on the wall, his thoughts immediately turning to the reason he was in this room in the first place.

He didn’t know what would happen, but he knew it was his responsibility to stop whatever harm the Diamonds wanted to do to the Earth. His friends and family were on Earth and he wanted to keep them safe, even if it meant they were angry or upset with him. He remembered seeing their scared faces – Sadie, Lars, Jamie, Onion – they had looked so scared, wrapped up in Topaz like toppings in a fusion burrito.

Their faces morphed into that of the gems. Bringing his knees up, he wrapped his arms around them and buried his head within them. They would have to tell his dad about what had happened and he knew the former musician would be sad and upset, but Steven thought he’d understand. His dad taught him about right from wrong and what Rose Quartz had done was bad and wrong; sometimes he couldn’t believe his father hadn’t asked more questions.

His dad had admitted that they hadn’t really gone into their past – Steven had just met his father’s cousin a few months ago – and for some reason, that just rubbed Steven the wrong way. Maybe if he had, Steven would understand his situation; maybe if he had, the teen could’ve turned himself in a while ago, maybe to Blue Diamond so his dad wouldn’t have been kidnapped.

Maybe Rose would’ve lied – she did lie to everyone else, it wouldn’t have been weird if she had maybe lied to his father about things too.

As much as he tried not to think about her, Rose Quartz seemed to invade her son’s thoughts at every moment, especially after learning about what she had done to Pink Diamond. He knew Pearl and Garnet knew something about it, but they wouldn’t _tell_ him anything! Why did _they_ get to be upset? Rose was _his_ mother and all she _did_ was make him upset!

Didn’t they care!?

As soon as the thought entered his mind, Steven’s face crumbled in despair. Of course the Gems cared – he could see it when he told them goodbye. He had seen Pearl cry before, but not like how she was when he left; she looked so…heartbroken. He knew his decision would make her sad, after all he was the last connection any of them had to Rose and he was essentially taking that away from them.

If there was ever a person he considered a mother to him, it was Pearl.

They were _all_ mothers to him, though in different ways. Pearl always taught him things and was always so patient with him when he asked questions; yes, she tended to baby him sometimes, but Steven would be lying if he said sometimes he enjoyed it.

Garnet always seemed to have his back and always believed he could do things. And while he didn’t know a lot about Ruby and Sapphire, Steven knew they cared about him, too, even when in the midst of arguing. Or flirting.

Amethyst was more like his big cool sister than a mom, seeing as most of the trouble he got into was due to Amethyst’s influence. Even her last words to him were about kicking his butt if he didn’t get off the ship. And Amethyst seemed to understand him better than the other gems – maybe because Earth was her home and she had always she hadn’t measured up to what she should’ve been or what the others wanted her to be.

And then…there was Connie.

There were so many feelings and thoughts about his best friend, it would probably take a lifetime to even go through. He had meant what he said as he stepped inside Aquamarine’s ship – he had told her he loved her and while the statement was directed at everyone below, he had meant it and possibly in a different context to how he felt about the others.

Oh, who was he kidding? There would never be another girl for him; it was why he had been so worried on his birthday and why he had been jealous about her friend Micah. Connie was human and thus, she would grow up in a normal, human way; Steven was not human – not completely – and it had been clear that his growth was tied in to his emotional and mental well being.

Just like all of his other stupid powers that never seemed to manifest when he really needed them.

But that meant there was a good 85.9% chance that while Connie grew up into a beautiful woman (even more so than she was now), Steven would be stuck in the body of child. His surprising fluff of facial hair and minimal growth spurt had only been a flash in the pan – he still looked like he was ten years old, four years younger than his actual age and even now, he was sitting and holding his legs like some little kid afraid of the dark.

Connie had told him that she would be going into high school soon, where kids his age were until the age of eighteen and then went on to learn more before going to college, where they would learn even _more_ things. Steven loved learning, but he secretly admitted all of that sounded…boring. Even Connie had admitted there were classes she dreaded going to because of the subject matter or the teacher.

His best friend would go on to meet more people and grow up and…and maybe find someone who would grow up with her. She had told him it didn’t matter, but it kinda did. Steven…Steven wanted what his parents had with each other, what Ruby and Sapphire had with each other, and he wanted it with Connie. But that would be impossible if she was all grown up and he was a twenty-four year old in the body of a ten year old.

Shaking his head, Steven quickly wiped the tears that had been on his face. He was doing this _for_ Connie! And for Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, and his dad. He was doing this for everyone and everything in Beach City. And he was doing it for everyone on Earth. Before he had turned fourteen, he had declared himself a big boy – something only little boys do – and to Garnet of all people, but that statement had led her to tell him about her future vision.

And like a little boy, he had freaked out about knowing all the possible ways he could die. In hindsight, all of the scenarios that ran through his head were ridiculous, especially when he now knew and had come very close to dying. Lapis had tried to drown him, Peridot had kidnapped him, Jasper had tried to beat him up, Bismuth tried to stab him with the Breaking Point; if not for his bubble, he would’ve died in space, he had nearly gotten himself and Connie killed by falling to their deaths, he had gotten his father kidnapped, etc.

A better person wouldn’t have been in those situations. A better person would’ve gotten Lapis to calm down, to get Peridot and Jasper to talk, to get Bismuth to think about what she was doing, to make Eyeball understand…Rose Quartz probably never got any one of her friends killed. She had been a skilled military leader, able to fight against hordes of Homeworld soldiers with just a few of her gems.

Rose Quartz had been inspiring; Steven Universe was…disappointing.

That thought made Steven screw his face up, tears once again falling from his eyes. Everything he had done would be for nothing once Homeworld discovered he wasn’t Rose Quartz and they could go back to Earth to try and find her or worse. His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten for a while; actually, he couldn’t even remember what he had the previous day, what with learning that Jamie was missing, Sadie hadn’t come home the night before, and running into Aquamarine and Topaz.

Gems didn’t eat, which meant Homeworld probably didn’t have anything in the way of food for humans. Even the human zoo seemed to have specially made food for their inhabitants, that just consisted mostly on blue or purple apples. The only reason his gems ate was, well probably because of him – Amethyst was the most human, sorta, as she tended to any and everything; his dad had surprised him with the fact that Garnet ate sometimes, even Ruby had made the statement about eating at some village food stand when they had been in Nemey.

Pearl was the one gem that didn’t eat, but for a species that didn’t eat, she knew a lot about human nutrition and always made sure Steven tried to get as much of a balanced meal throughout the day. He couldn’t help but think about the special way she made pancakes for him, with a little bit of nutmeg, sugar, and cinnamon, and they always tasted so good, even when cold.

Thinking about pancakes was making him even hungrier and he tried to think about something else, to no avail. He tried remembering what Pearl and Connie had once told him about how humans survival – both of them had stated humans definitely needed food and water and there was a definite cut off time period on how long you could go without either.

It had only been a few hours, he thought, and his stomach was growling loudly and he couldn’t remember the last time he had something to drink. Gems didn’t need to eat, so did that mean he could die before they even decided what to do with him?

Once again, Steven tried to reassure himself that his was all for the greater good and that it needed to be done. He hadn’t thought past that and now that he was here, those little tidbits of planning were cropping up and he hadn’t planned for them.

This was all worth it.

Wasn’t it?


	3. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven is interrogated by someone very familiar with military tactics and prisoners of war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies everyone for the lateness. Surprisingly, this chapter was the hardest to get out, but hopefully I did it.
> 
> This concludes this fic and as you'll see, sets us up for a lot of stuff in the upcoming stories. We're hitting the nitty gritty [side note: did y'all see that NYCC teaser?? Vindication is mine!] and all the forks and shirts are about to hit the fan. 
> 
> Next stop: we start at the very beginning, which is a very good place to start, in **_The Crystal Gems_**.
> 
> The Stop After: all of this arc's stories converge as hard decisions are made that could change everything in **_Diamonds and Pearls_**.
> 
> Thank you again everyone for the comments, the bookmarks, and overall support. Rest assured, there are _plenty_ PLENTY more stories once this arc finishes (I'm actually planning a season's worth of stories), so I hope you continue your travels on the G-Train.
> 
> Enough talk, let's get to our pit stop!

How long had it been?

Time had no meaning on Homeworld, but Steven needed to have something in order to track it in this room. Normally, he’d rely on his phone, but after doing a quick search of his pockets, he discovered he didn’t seem to have it. Trying to wrack his brain, he figured he must have lost it at some point during his fight with Aquamarine and Topaz, though he couldn’t be sure if he lost it at Funland or in the ocean while trying to get everyone off the ship.

The only thing that _was_ keeping time seemed to be his stomach, which actually wasn’t very good.

His stomach had been growling for some time and he was starting to notice his head starting to hurt, giving him a headache. He thought a day may have passed, but he couldn’t be sure, not really, but he did know that he’d been in this strange, dull, boring room for a very long time. All he had done was go back and forth between second guessing this course of action and sticking to his guns about how right it was.

Just when it seemed like Homeworld had most likely forgotten about him, the mysterious door from earlier opened to reveal a tall yellow gem, seeming dressed in the gem equivalent of a suit – her top was like a vest that came together to form a large tie in the middle. Her pants billowed at the bottom, covering smart dress shoes, which were also yellow. On her left eye was a strange circle of glass – a monocle, if he remembered right – and it reminded Steven of the Count Almond character that was the icon for cans of almonds.

Looking at him, she raised an eyebrow before turning away and bringing up a digital screen. “I am Yellow Diamond’s personal Zircon,” she began. “I will be asking you a series of questions to verify you are who you say you are. You claim to be Rose Quartz, correct?”

“Um…” Steven began. “Yeah, that’s…that’s right.”

“What is your designation?”

“My…my what?”

The zircon looked at him, her expression not changing from what she wore when she first walked in. “Your designation,” she repeated. Steven shook his head in confusion, not understanding anything she was saying.

The gem glared at the boy. “Your designation,” she said again, this time slightly slower in case he was deaf or…well, unintelligent. “Your cut? Your facet? Am I speaking too fast?”

Steven shrugged in confusion. “Uh,” he stammered. “I don’t have a designation. I mean, I guess I was born in Beach City. Does…does that help?”

Yellow Zircon just looked at him before turning back to her screen. “Log date 7 17 4,” she began. “Subject seems unaware of their own designation and has neglected to change her current form into her created one.” Turning back to Steven, she asked, “Are you the same Rose Quartz that instigated a rebellion within the court of Pink Diamond?”

“Yes,” Steven said, this time much more firmly than his previous answers. “Yes, I am that Rose Quartz.”

“And are you the same Rose Quartz that, with premeditation, shattered Pink Diamond without remorse and with extreme prejudice?”

“Uh…” That seemed a little harsh, he thought. “Well I…I don’t know about premeditation, but yes. Yes, I totally, absolutely shattered her. That part is definitely true.”

“Hmmm.”

Zircon turned back to her screen, starting up her notes again. “Subject has confessed to the brutal shattering of our once glorious leader, Pink Diamond,” she began, throwing him a nasty look as she did. “Are you also the same Rose Quartz that influenced and corrupted the former pearl of White Diamond?”

Steven looked at the gem in surprise. “What?” he asked. “I…I don’t know White Diamond’s pearl.”

“Are you hereby denying your hand in the corruption of the gem known as…” Zircon looked at her notes. “The _renegade pearl_?”

“Pearl!?”

“Yes,” Zircon replied, rolling her eyes. “Subject seems unfamiliar with the very followers she corrupted. Are you also the same Rose Quartz who harbored the fugitive sapphire and ruby previously of Blue Diamond’s court?”

“Um…well, I don’t think…harbored is the word,” Steven began. “But they weren’t Ruby and Sapphire, they were…”

“Do not _dare_ speak the name of that abomination!”

“Hey!” Steven exclaimed. “You can’t talk about Garnet like that! That’s mean!”

The yellow gem was about to retort when an ungodly noise interrupted her. “What in the Diamonds’ name was that!?”

“Oh,” the teen said, rubbing his stomach. “It’s my stomach. I’m actually kinda hungry. You don’t think you could get me some food, do you? And maybe some water? It’s not good for humans to go without water.”

“Subject now seems to believe she is one of the organics from the wretched planet she’s been hiding on.”

“Ugh!” Steven shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “I’m not Rose Quartz! I’m not her, I’m…I’m her son.”

This time, it was Zircon who looked confused. “Subject is now confusing herself with the sun,” she recorded.

“No, not the _sun_ ,” the teen protested. “Her _son_. Rose Quartz was my mom; when she had me, she…she gave me her gem and kinda…ceased to exist.”

Zircon still didn’t understand anything he was saying.

“On Earth, when humans…decide to have a family,” he began. “They get together to have children. That’s me. My dad and my mom got together and decided to have me and…well…here I am.”

It was clear this idea of human families made as much sense to Zircon as Camp Pining Hearts made sense to Steven. It was a concept even the Gems had trouble understanding, especially met with the prospect of a baby Steven; Greg had once told him that Rose found the idea of the way humans grew and changed fascinating, especially in relation to gems.

Gems began their lives knowing exactly what their purpose is and that purpose never changes, as they continue to do the same thing for thousands upon thousands of years.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Zircon recorded the new findings. “Subject now spouting odd routines as part of an organic ritual involving species known as ‘my dad’ and ‘my mom’”, she said. “Subject now believes herself to be a member of the ‘my mom’ species.”

Steven let out a loud groan.

“Subject also making unnecessary and rather disgusting noises,” she continued. “And is requesting ‘food’ and ‘water’, which I can only guess is some Earth delicacy.” Closing out the screen, Zircon turned to look at the teen. “I’m finished with my questioning,” she stated. “I’m not sure what game you’re trying to play, but I assure you that you won’t find my Diamond so easily amused or misdirected.

“If you _are_ Rose Quartz, you can be sure to meet swift justice and I, for one, would happy to prosecute you in any trial you’re brought to; though I can honestly state not only will you most likely _not_ get a trial, but you don’t _deserve_ one, traitor.

“If by some miracle or mistake, you are _not_ Rose Quartz, well…I highly doubt the outcome to be any different. Though for your insolence at attempting to pose as a wanted war criminal is more than enough to warrant a trial in itself.

“Possibly.”

Turning on her heel, Zircon made to head for the door, but was stopped by that strange noise coming from the prisoner and one last plea.

“Please,” Steven begged. “I’m…I’m sorry I yelled earlier and I’m sorry about posing as my mom, I just…I was just trying to save my friends and family. But…I really _am_ hungry and thirsty. Humans can only go so long without food or water and…I kinda need both.”

“So now you admit that you’re organic?”

Calming his annoyance and hunger, Steven pulled up his shirt to reveal the rose quartz nestled where a human belly button would be. The sight of the gem caused what he wanted – Zircon took a step back in surprise and a bit of fright, her eyes wide as she regarded Steven.

“I do have a gem,” he said. “Because Rose Quartz was my mother, but I have a human father, so sometimes – most times – I’m more human than gem. And that’s why I actually _do_ need to eat. Look, if you feed me, I won’t make any more noise; that’s just my stomach telling me it wants food.”

Zircon stared for another moment, before saying, “I’ll see what I can do about your…eating habits,” she said. “However, after this revelation, I have no choice but to note it in my report. Your fate is no longer up to me.”

With that said, she turned and walked out the wall panel.

 

* * *

 

Steven had been laying on his back on the floor when the wall panel that served as his prisoner door opened. It had been a long time since he had seen Yellow Zircon and while his stomach had stopped growling, the teen had been feeling dizzy and disorientated, so he decided to lay down and look at the ceiling.

The ceiling was as interesting as the walls around him and Steven quickly got bored and decided perhaps sleep was the best course of action. He could only remember taking the short nap while inside Topaz, but he didn’t know how long that had lasted; even now, he hadn’t been sure of the hours or even days that might have gone by.

When the wall panel opened, Steven lifted his head slightly, expecting to see the zircon from before or worse, Beryl, but he was surprised at his new visitors. The first to enter was a pearl, looking so similar to his own Pearl back on Earth that the teen immediately sat up to get a better look. She was tall and thin, like his Pearl, but she was turquoise in color with long hair that hung about her shoulders that seemed to be greener in color than the rest of her.

In her hands was a tray and she cautiously bent down to place it on the floor in front of him. On it were two bowls – one filled with some white, mushy goop and the other with cool, hopefully delicious water.

There was a ruby guard right behind her, keeping her eyes trained on Steven for any sudden movements. “There’s your meal, traitor,” the ruby replied, smartly, gesturing to the tray now on the floor. “The Diamonds don’t want you fading away before your execution.”

Somewhere in Steven’s brain, the word ‘execution’ explored in dread, horror, and other words he just couldn’t form at the moment, but his stomach overruled all of that; he was starving and the weird substance was enough to make him reach for it immediately. He didn’t have a spoon or fork or anything, so he figured he’d have to just gulp down it and hope Pearl would never find out.

She hated when he did that, especially if he was encouraged by Amethyst.

Looking up at the pearl, he said, “Thank you.”

It was a strange moment for Steven – he had heard and learned about how Homeworld treated pearls, but he had never actually _seen_ another pearl besides his own and the Diamonds’ pearls. This pearl, who hadn’t once looked up at him or made any type of eye contact, suddenly looked up at his gratitude, blue eyes wide in either shock or terror.

“That’s enough out of you!” the ruby called, stomping over and grabbing the pearl by the arm. “We know how you manipulate other gems and the last thing we want is another lost pearl. Come on.”

Ushering her out the door, Steven was once again alone with his thoughts, but at least this time he had food. Time had to be passing because Steven saw the pearl/ruby team come to him the next day and then the next, bringing with them the two bowls of not at all good or tasty white goop and water. He tried asking what the goop was to the pearl, but once again, the ruby had roughly grabbed her before pointing an angry finger at Steven.

“You don’t get to talk to her!”

It had been tempting to ask if the pearl was okay or if the ruby was hurting her, but instead Steven held his tongue. It was hard to think of the two outside of the pearl and ruby he knew – Pearl wasn’t the type of person to keep her head down, quite the opposite, as she could be very outspoken when she chose.

Yes, sometimes she would get down about herself, but she had all of them to remind her how great she was and how awesome it was for her to learn so many things.

And while he didn’t see Ruby a lot, the teen knew her bark was much worse than her bite. Ruby got angry, but it always came down to someone she cared about getting hurt. Seeing her amongst the two ruby squads was, in some cases, like night and day. His Ruby was passionate, but she could also keep a level head and Steven was definitely sure his Ruby was tons smarter than the others he had met.

Thinking about Ruby always made him think about Eyeball and Navy – the latter two who had tried to hurt him against the former who never would and had been devastated to learn that she had. Ruby loved him, that was for sure, but these rubies…these rubies _hated_ him.  

It seemed the arrival of food started some sort of new trend, because it seemed only a short matter of time after he had received his third meal that the door opened again, this time revealing Topaz and Beryl. The sight of the two caused the boy’s stomach to turn, the meager meal he had eaten threatening to come back. The ruby guard’s words from earlier rang in his ears.

_“The Diamonds don’t want you fading away before your execution.”_

Was that the reason Topaz and Beryl were there now? Were they actually taking him to be…executed?

“On your feet, traitor,” Beryl spat. “Our Diamond has need of you.”

Steven audibly gulped. Some childish part of him wondered what Yellow Diamond or any of the Diamonds would want with him, but the reality of the situation slammed back into him with full force. Of course the Diamonds wanted to speak to him – he was Rose Quartz after all. His outburst at the yellow zircon previously probably did nothing to sway them to his human plight, especially not when his initial claims were that he was a long sought after war criminal.

The teen didn’t have much choice in the matter, as Topaz snatched him up in the same way she had previously, trapping him between two halves of a fusion. The larger gem followed the smaller one of the room and Steven once again began a long and nervous journey towards the unknown areas on Homeworld.

The cell area he had been in was still quiet, but there seemed to be much more activity in the area he was head. Beryl remained at her post, but Topaz continued on her way through the halls of…wherever Steven was. The teen was tempted to just sleep this time, however Topaz did something different than the first time they had arrived in the strange environment.

She went outside.

The pale yellow corridors drifted away as Topaz led the two from the cell block building through a sliding door that opened to reveal a brightly colored city scape. From what Steven could see, the city would done up in the colors of the previous four matriarchs of the Diamond Authority, melding themselves into dark and lighter hues as they coated buildings and structures.

Said structures rose up into the sky, like human skyscrapers and most had some form factor that resembled triangles or actual diamond shapes. Despite the colorful atmosphere, Steven was surprised there weren’t more people on the streets, enjoying the violent sky hovering above them. He identified a few robonoids, the type that Peridot had used when she first arrived on Earth, as well as a few bismuths that were seemingly either constructing or repairing a statue.

There were a few gems that Steven had never seen before, all of them different colors – pink, yellow, white, blue, lighter pink, darker blue – as they walked along the streets of the gem home planet; unlike the citizens of Beach City, who were known to sometimes stop and say hello to someone they knew, gems here just walked past each other without a second glance.

There was a small cluster of peridots working on one side of him, while another gem stood yelling at a pearl to the other. The pearl had her head down in shame and embarrassment, allowing the small gem to yell and shout at her.

“Ugh!” the gem was saying. “Stupid, useless pearl! Honestly, what would you _do_ without someone telling you what your purpose and duties were? This! This is what you would do!”

“Hey!” Steven shouted, but his voice was lost to the air as Topaz hurried along to their next destination. “Topaz! We have to go back! That gem was being mean to that pearl. Topaz!”

His shouts fell on deaf ears, though other gems that passed them did give him a look of disgust when hearing that he wanted to defend a pearl. Steven tried to turn his head to see what was happening, but they were already too far away and he only had limited range within his walking prison. The sight of that gem yelling at a pearl unnerved him and he couldn’t help but think of the time he had heard Pearl say almost the identical thing.

_“I’m just a pearl. I’m useless on my own.”_

It had been hard to hear Pearl say something like that and it hadn’t been the first time or the last that Steven would be privy to the emotional scarring his guardian held in her heart. Had someone yelled at her like that? Had someone treated her the way that ruby had treated the other pearl? Even the mere mention of helping a pearl had been met with disgust…

And it was wrong! Didn’t these people know how great Pearl was?

The answer hit him unexpectedly and hard at that. _Of course_ they didn’t know that because Pearl wasn’t there to show them. He hadn’t given them a chance because he had made sure to keep everyone else safe on Earth. The brief amount of distress he had begun feeling, that this had been a horrible mistake, disappeared; this was _exactly_ why he had to turn himself in. Homeworld wouldn’t understand unless someone told them, explained how they could be better.

And Steven Universe was the only person who could do that.

He had once mentioned to his father that it had been his hope for Peridot to arrive on Earth and see how good the planet was, how good the people on it were, and it happened exactly as he wanted it to. Even Lapis, who didn’t have a good experience on Earth before being put into the mirror, wanted to protect it and the people on it.

And they certainly couldn’t do that if they were captured. No, it was Steven’s purpose to do this, to make Homeworld see the greatness of Earth so they would spare it. There was a high chance – a very high chance – that he would be punished, but that was small in comparison to the bigger goal. Didn’t his mother see the bigger picture in things?

Rose Quartz had been such a good leader, able to help gems find their own purpose, one that didn’t hinder on what they had been _made_ to do, but what they _wanted_ to do. As her son, it was Steven’s job to carry on that leadership and the best way to do that was to ensure there was no bad blood between Homeworld and Earth.

By the time Steven had resolved himself of his decision, Topaz was striding through another door and through another yellowish corridor, approaching a small warp pad that was towards the back. As before, the warp stream was a mix of the Diamond colors, a contrast against the white background of whatever space they traveled to.

The two arrived on another warp pad, this time the walls here were a standard yellow, with a few accent yellows that decorated it. The floor was highlighted by neon lights, making the glossiness of the surface glow. Topaz continued to walked forward, passing over the familiar Diamond insignia featuring the symbols of Yellow, Blue, and White Diamond.

At the end of the hall was a large door, one that seemed to zoom over the tall gem fusion, standing at least twenty feet tall. It was yellow – like much of the area Steven found himself in – with light yellow trimmings around the doorjamb and seams separating the opening. Next to the door was a digital control panel, which Topaz used to announce her presence. After a moment, the large door split into two, each sliding to open to the room inside.

Topaz took a few steps inside before stopping and looking around.

As the fusion looked around, so did Steven. As with everything else, the room was draped in the color yellow and was minimal in its design. Before them was a stepped platform, surrounded by an upper ledge that wrapped around; in the center was a large throne chair. When the fusion began moving again, it was to head towards the first raised platform before turning to the left and taking the steps that lead up to the second platform.

It was only on the stairs that Steven realized that he had been in this room before or rather, in a room similar to this while at the human zoo. The difference was the coloring and the chair, but the décor seemed to mirror that of the former chambers of Pink Diamond. Besides the coloring and throne, there was another disparity – that being a singular cell that was on the second platform.

And what Steven was thrown into.

The cell was obviously constructed for one person, oblong in its standing nature and surrounded on all sides with a force field, one Steven was sure meant to keep gems in and from escaping.

Topaz looked at the boy and the first time, her face registered discomfort as she saw his fate. “Topaz?” Steven asked, curious to the look she was giving him. Again, he didn’t get an answer from her, but he still said, “I know you might not care, but…thanks for taking me here. And for…you know…being nice to me. I know you don’t have to be, but…thanks.”

Topaz’s eyes raised in surprise before showing a small source of concern. She didn’t have long to contemplate the small gem before a side door opened to their right, revealing Yellow Pearl and behind her, the military leader and commander of all Homeworld’s forces.

Yellow Diamond.

 

* * *

 

The colony of Rigel 8 was a far cry away from Homeworld, but it was the favorite ruling location for Yellow Diamond. It was remote, quiet, and it had a lovely view of the stars. As a ruling figure over several hundred colonies, the monarch made it a point to rule with authority and a no nonsense attitude; that method had allowed her colonies to flourish, right up to the point where she was considering looking to add another planet to her cluster.

She knew her fellow monarch, White Diamond, held the same discipline – where loyalty, fealty, and honor were rewarded and praised, while disloyalty was met with swift justice. There was a reason the gem empire’s massive reach into the galaxy was such, thanks in part to the ways in which they conquered and changed unworthy, destitute planets in to thriving hallmarks of innovation.

Yellow wished she could say the same about Blue’s colonies; once upon a time, she could, but those days seemed to have gone. Yellow didn’t know exactly how the colonies under Blue Diamond were being handled, but from what her pearl had told her, they weren’t well. While they ran with efficiency, problems were erupting and there were rumors about their Diamond’s ability to rule. They were quiet whispers and ones that were silenced by Yellow’s own sent gems, but they were enough to start stirring the pot of dissent.

And it didn’t matter what she or White said, their fellow ruler seemed content to just let her own colonies and subjects run aground into ruin.

But there seemed to be a silver lining on the horizon. Out of the blue, naturally, Yellow received a message from Blue’s own Aquamarine, stating that they finally had the traitor Rose Quartz in their custody. After several millennia, the very problem that had brought about the near destruction of their society, was in custody and headed to Homeworld.

Yellow had immediately set about transport back to Homeworld.

She wanted to see the traitor herself.

And today was the day, as she strode through the halls towards her chambers in the Military District on Homeworld. Her pearl could barely keep up with her quick steps as she hurried down the corridors; it would take all of her composure not to just order an execution, but she knew Blue would want to speak to the gem, so for now, she would just question the rebel leader.

Entering from her personal entrance, Yellow Diamond entered her chambers, already spotting her most loyal Topaz having dumped the being in the cell she had personally constructed for her. There had been several conflicting reports regarding this newly formed Rose, which aided in her reasoning on wanting to see the traitor and as reported, she was not as Yellow had imagined.

She was shorter, much shorter than the regular sized quartz soldiers that made up the bulk of her military might and she was dressed in strange attire, a red cloth covering her upper body with a yellow star on it and blue leggings that covered her bottom half.

“This is her?” she couldn’t help but ask, sneering at the small being. She tried not being surprised, but she couldn’t help it – this small, miniscule blob was the reason they had lost thousands, if not millions of gems, lost a budding colony, and an up and coming Diamond?

“Thank you, Topaz,” she replied, waving off the fusion. “That will be all.”

Topaz nodded, before turning and quickly leaving the room.

Again, staring at the small being, Yellow made her towards it, towering over the cell that held her. “I should shatter you just for taking on that hideous form,” she spat. “But I know Blue would be deeply upset if I did and didn’t allow her to see you…though, if you had any compassion, you’d drop the disguise.”

“It’s…” Steven stammered. This wasn’t the first time he had seen Yellow Diamond, but having her so close up was…unnerving and frightening. “It’s not a disguise. It’s…it’s my own form.”

“So you’ve said,” she replied. Turning, Yellow sat down in her chair, eyes boring into Steven’s body. “Pearl?”

“Yes, My Diamond?”

“Please give me a summary of the reports we have on Rose Quartz.”

Pulling up a digital screen, Yellow Pearl threw a nasty look at Steven before looking over what had been reported. “According to Aquamarine,” she began. “This…gem turned herself over on the Earth colony during the mission to retrieve more of the organic species for the zoo, my Diamond. She turned herself in after a small skirmish with the Earthlings.”

“Still gathering followers, I see,” Yellow murmured, her eyes narrowed at the teen.

“No!” he cried. “Those were my friends! I…I was trying to get them off the ship so…so you couldn’t take them.”

Yellow waved to Pearl to continue reading.

“Upon arrival here, both Beryl and Zircon noted that the prisoner refused to drop their current form and shapeshift back into their previous form of Rose Quartz. Zircon notes that, later, the prisoner began to insist that they were one of the organics from Earth and that they were ‘the sun of Rose Quartz’.”

Steven groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Not _sun_ , as in the ball of light in the sky,” he said. “ _Son_ , as in I’m the offspring of Rose Quartz.”

“I think that’s quite enough out of you,” Yellow Pearl hissed. “Gems do not engage in disgusting human rituals, such as reproduction and the very fact that you would say such things in front of _a_ _Diamond_ , no less…”

“Pearl.”

The change in the high ranked servant was immediate, though Steven noted that she still held some irritation at his statement. “My apologies, my Diamond.”

“Listen, I’m sorry about all of this…”

Steven went to reach out to both gems, a pleading tone in his voice. He just needed to make them see and understand; he was ready to accept the punishment that should have gone to his mother, but he had to make them promise not to hurt anyone on Earth and to leave the planet alone. However, when his fingers brushed across the force field, he immediately received an electric shock that caused him to stumble back.

“What?” he asked, looking at his hand and then the force field. When he had been on Peridot’s ship, he had easily been able to bypass the shield door in order to not only escape, but help the others escape as well.

“Hmmm,” Yellow murmured, a slight small on her face. “Well, it seems my little experiment has worked after all.”

“What experiment?”

“Recently, I learned of an incident occurring at that ridiculous zoo of Pink’s,” the monarch began. “From Holly Blue Agate?” The Diamond watched as Steven’s eyes got wide; so he was clearly aware of the incident. “Oh, yes,” she continued. “That little deal you made with her only lasted as long as she was sure she wouldn’t be caught by those barbaric buffoons stationed there.

“She delivered a report about the 'harrowing event' – how a band of rebels managed to break into the zoo and absconded with two of the humans, newly arrived coincidentally, and then turned the workers there against her. She of course went on and on about how she tried to stop them, but had been sadly overpowered.

“I don’t suppose you know anything about that, hmmm?”

Yellow was looking at him and she could see he knew exactly what she spoke of.

“I…” he stammered. “It was me. But just me. My dad and I saw Blue Diamond in Korea and he went to comfort her and…well, she took him to the zoo. So I had to get him back, but it was just me. I was the only one who went.”

“Interesting,” the monarch replied. “Because I believe in Holly Blue’s report that she said there was a pearl, a ruby, a sapphire, and a defective amethyst there.”

“I…”

“Spare me your excuses, Rose,” Yellow said. “I know you and your rebel trash were at Pink’s zoo, to disrupt it, no doubt as those defective quartzes managed to turn on their agate. You needn’t worry about them anymore, however; you’ve noticed your cell has been reinforced. My peridots realized that organic matter could easily pass through our destabilizers and so I told them to see about creating a field that would…disrupt organic matter.

“It really only took two of those organic beings to test, but I wanted to be sure it was really working, so I had them test it on three more. I had hoped you interacting with it would disprove your ridiculous claims of being organic, but it seems there may be some truth to it, however I believe more testing should be involved where it comes to you."

The look of horror on Steven’s face only made the Diamond smile even more. Rose Quartz thought she was so clever; the audacity of trying to stage a coup at the very last institution of the leader she had shattered, her own Diamond.

“I’ve also made sure that there will be no further failures at the zoo,” she continued. “Holly Blue Agate has been repurposed and one of my most loyal agates has replaced her. She’ll ensure those mongrels don’t have anymore ‘ambition’ to try and take over. Your influence on them has been and will continue to be removed should it ever show up again."

“Please,” the teen whimpered. He couldn't believe this was happening. He absolutely never wanted any of the humans in the zoo to be hurt, they were totally innocent in their scheme to rescue Greg. He didn't know what repurposing entailed, but it didn't sound at all good; even at her worse, Holly Blue didn't deserve whatever her current fate was. And then there were the amethysts stationed there, Amethyst's 'famethyst', the gems who had been made in the same kindergarten and who had waited patiently for their little sister to emerge only to meet her thousands of years later. What happened to them? Yellow Diamond made it seem like they were okay, but they may have been punished for helping him and the others.

“I didn’t want this," he pleaded. "Not this. I admit to everything – I rescued my dad from the zoo, I admit it. And…and I’m not Rose Quartz, but I am her son and I’m willing to take any punishment if it’ll make things right, but please. Just leave the Earth and its people alone. I’m begging you.”

“Begging me?” Yellow asked, incredulously, leaning over her chair so she could face Steven. “ _You’re begging me!?_ I wonder if Pink begged you for mercy before you shattered her. Did any of my troops beg before you and your wretched band of miscreants poofed them, leaving their gems to rot on that miserable planet? How many gems begged you to leave well enough alone, so that our empire would continue to grow and prosper? How many begged you to think of your own kind instead of those pathetic meatbags on Earth?

“Well the time for begging is over, Rose. I don’t know what game you’re trying to play, but it will not work with me. Know this – the only reason I haven’t shattered you is because I want the gems here to personally witness your execution. It’s only fitting that this era of gems sees the reason behind their struggles, while gaining strength in the knowledge that their Diamonds have once again prevailed against evil.

“You only live because Blue would only wallow further and further into her obsessive mourning if I don’t allow her one visit with you to get all the answers she wants and you _will_ give them to her. But for now, you and I will get down to business ourselves.”

Leaning in closer, Yellow said, “You will tell me everything about the war you started, starting with your first act of rebellion.”


End file.
